It dates from the 1750s, and was originally occupied by the 1st Earl Spencer (an early ancestor of Princess Diana). The Spencer family continued to live there until 1895 when the building was let out to rent.

In 1985 the lease was assigned to J.Rothschild Holdings who spent the next ten years restoring it to its original 18th-century appearance, making it one of the few 18th-century private palaces to survive intact.

Eight of the State Rooms have now been opened to the public: the Ante-Room, Library, Dining Room, Palm Room, Music Room, Lady Spencer's Room, Great Room and Painted Room.

The standout rooms on the tour are Vardy's Palladian Palm Room, with its spectacular screen of gilded palm trees, and the Painted Room, with its mural decorations reflecting the Spencer's passion for classical Greece and Rome.